health correspondent betty ann bowser has our report. the "newshour" health unit is a partnership with the robert wood johnson foundation. >> reporter: when flooding inundated new orleans five years ago, patients from the city's big public hospital had to be evacuated by boat, truck and helicopter. the water also wiped out charity hospital's 70 years as the place where 90% of the city's poor and uninsured went for medical care. >> we created health care in the wild. there was nothing. >> reporter: dr. karen desalvo was a clinic director at charity five years ago, who saw potential in tragedy. >> we had a clean slate. you know, katrina, the storm, the flooding was horrific, but it really was an opportunity for us to try something new and better for our patients. so when we had that chance and could go out in neighborhoods and begin building from scratch that is what we sought to do. >> reporter: in the months after katrina, there was controversy that lingers even today about whether to rebuild charity hospital, but the building's infrastr